MOLLOY, THOMAS EDMUND

Archbishop, educator; b. Nashua, N.H., Sept. 4, 1884; d. Brooklyn, N.Y., Nov. 26, 1956. He was the son of John Molloy, a provision merchant, and the former Ellen Gaffney. He attended Nashua public and parochial schools and St. Anselm's College, Manchester, N.H. In Brooklyn, N.Y., he studied at St. Francis College and St. John's Seminary. In 1904 he entered the North American College in Rome and on Sept. 19, 1908, was ordained for the Diocese of Brooklyn. He was assigned as assistant at St. John's Chapel, Brooklyn, and when his pastor, George W. mundelein, was appointed auxiliary bishop, Molloy became his secretary. In 1915 Mundelein was named archbishop of Chicago and took his secretary with him. After ten months, Molloy returned to Brooklyn and became assistant at Queen of All Saints parish and spiritual director at Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception. He also taught philosophy at St. Joseph's College for Women, Brooklyn, and later became its president. He was consecrated auxiliary to Bishop Charles E. McDonnell of Brooklyn on Oct. 3, 1920, and was elected administrator of the diocese upon the death of McDonnell in August of 1921. He was named bishop of Brooklyn by Pope Benedict XV on Nov. 21, 1921; Pope Pius XII gave him the personal title of archbishop on April 7, 1951. During his episcopate the Catholic population of the diocese doubled and the number of priests tripled. Ninety new parishes were established, 100 new parochial schools were opened, and the number of Catholic high schools more than doubled. Existing colleges expanded; the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception, Huntington, N.Y., and Molloy Catholic College for Women, Rockville Center, N.Y., were opened. The services of the hospitals and Catholic charities were reorganized and expanded, and diocesan insurance and purchasing agencies and a building commission were established. Molloy's eloquence and personality attracted the support of influential non-Catholics as well as Catholics.

Bibliography: j. k. sharp, History of the Diocese of Brooklyn, 1853–1953, 2 v. (New York 1954).

[b. j. mcentegart]